Thursday, January 10, 2008

Alzheimer's Society of BC is organising "Walk for Memories" event to bring together people who want to help thousands of British Columbians touched by dementia. This disease affects many senior citizens in the South Asian community. Therefore, BC Sikh Youth has formed a team called Sikh Community of BC to participate in this good cause.Make this event a success by joining or supporting the team. To register or sponsor go to www.bcsikhs.com/walkformemoriesThe date is January 27th. Check-in is at 12pm and the walk begins at 1pm. The location is the Promenade in White Rock.For further information they can contact Kulpreet Singh at 778-319-1699.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Ambala (Haryana) - The killing of three members of a family by a close relative in Oak Forest area of Chicago in the US is being mourned by a family in this Haryana town. Rajesh Kumar Arora, 30, his wife Monika Rani, 22, and their son Vansh, 3, died after Monika's father Subhash Chander, 57, set their apartment on fire Dec 31. Monika was five months pregnant. "We were informed by Chicago police that the bodies were all charred beyond recognition. They have asked us to send identification marks so that their bodies or ashes can be sent back to India," sobbing Om Prakash, the father of Rajesh, said.Chander was arrested by the police and charged with first-degree murder. He told police investigators that he was upset that his daughter had married a man from a lower caste against his wishes. But Rajesh Kumar's family in Ambala disagrees with Chander's claim that he carried out the gruesome act because of the caste issue. "He is an alcoholic and used to fight with people and abuse them. He was nothing less than an extortionist. He used to force Rajesh and his wife to give him money. He should be given death penalty for killing three innocent people," Om Prakash said Thursday.According to the police, Chander sprinkled his daughter and son-in-law's apartment with petrol, which he brought from the petrol pump where he worked. He then set the apartment on fire, giving the family no chance to escape. Rajesh and Monika got married in October 2002. He worked as a cashier in a petrol pump in Chicago. He had gone to the US on a tourist visa nearly 10 years ago and was an illegal immigrant. Though their son Vansh was born in US, his grandparents here had looked after him since he was seven months old. He went back to the US in July last year.Rajesh's family runs an electronics shop in this city. "We do not even have the means to go to the US to get their bodies. We need help," Om Prakash said.

CHICAGO - Subash Chander's sister said family members had no problem with the marriage. "It's the same culture, same everything," Kamla Devi said. "Kids marry all the time against their parents' will, but we - the whole family - accepted him as the son-in-law." Devi said that the family is from Chandigarh in India. Authorities said they did not know when the family came to the U.S., or precisely which castes husband and wife belonged to. Devi said her brother worked at a Wendy's restaurant but had to quit in September because of liver problems.

Chander set a fire last weekend that killed his pregnant daughter, his son-in-law and his 3-year-old grandson, prosecutors say, because he disapproved of his daughter’s marriage. Chander, who lives in Oak Forest, a suburb south of here, told investigators that he was upset with his daughter, Monika Rani, and her husband, Rajesh Kumar, for what he saw as “a cultural slight,” said Robert J. Milan, the first assistant state’s attorney of Cook County. Chander said that the couple had married without his consent and that Kumar was from a lower caste in India than Rani’s family, Milan said.

CHICAGO — A man set a fire last weekend that killed his pregnant daughter, his son-in-law and his 3-year-old grandson, prosecutors say, because he disapproved of his daughter’s marriage. The man, Subhash Chander, who lives in Oak Forest, a suburb south of here, told investigators that he was upset with his daughter, Monika Rani, and her husband, Rajesh Kumar, for what he saw as “a cultural slight,” said Robert J. Milan, the first assistant state’s attorney of Cook County. Chander said that the couple had married without his consent and that Kumar was from a lower caste in India than Rani’s family, Milan said.

Chander, 57, was held without bail on Wednesday, charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated arson and intentional homicide of an unborn child. Rani, 22, was five months pregnant with the couple’s second child. A defense lawyer assigned to Chander’s case did not respond to a telephone message. On Saturday night, firefighters were called to a blaze that was swiftly consuming an apartment complex where more than 70 people were inside. People raced down stairs, and others jumped from balcony windows. Remarkably, the authorities said, most escaped without serious injuries.The authorities said the fire started outside the door of Apartment 209, where Rani, Kumar and their son, Vansh Kumar, 3, lived. A witness told the police that just after the fire started he saw a man matching Chander’s description in the hallway smelling of gasoline and carrying a plastic container. An attendant at a gasoline station told the police that Chander had bought a plastic container of gasoline at his station two hours before the fire. Not long after the fire, the police found the container in the garbage bin outside Chander’s apartment building, just across the street from his daughter’s building.Chander acknowledged setting the fire, the authorities said, but said it had started during an unexpected confrontation with his family members. Chander told the police that his son-in-law had pushed him, leading him to spill the gasoline, which he had bought for a relative, Milan said. Chander said he grew angry, pulled out his lighter and set the apartment on fire, Milan added. Then, Chander said, he left, threw away the container and went home, Milan said, adding that he did not call the police, firefighters or his daughter.